F.A.Q.
The faq will be updated continuously as we receive questions. Please send us questions at contact.insidehamlet@gmail.com
What time do players need to arrive and leave?
You should be at location at 13.00 at Friday and you can leave on Sunday after breakfast.
How long does it take to get from the airport? i.e. what time of flights should people book?
There are direct trains from Copenhagen Airport to Helsingør that take an hour. From there it is a 10 minute walk.
How long is the actual playtime?
The experience is divided into three acts. Act one on friday which will run from afternoon to late evening. Act two and three is from Saturday morning to late evening, with a break between the acts. After that there is socialising with fellow participants. Sunday there will be a optional deroling workshop.
How extensive are the pre/post game workshops?
There will be a short workshop before the game, dramatic development work in the act-breaks and an optional debrief after the game.
What costume/props do people need to bring?
Required: Basic period dress meaning a uniform, a suit or a evening dress with a 20’s to 40’s feel. Costume is not locked to gender.
Recommended: Period odds and ends that are fun to have in play. For instance a croquet set, fencing gear, a gramophone player.
You can find inspiration here. The style is straightforward upper class gear from the first half of the 20th century.
If someone has a cool idea (like 'I want to play a Rasputin-type court mystic, and do guided meditation / hypnosis stuff on people for real') is there an option to pitch a character concept?
No. All characters are pre-written. Incidentally our Fastolf is a character exactly like the one you describe.
Will there be physical action? Will there be drinking and lewd behavior?
Yes.
One of the themes is decadence. How do you play that?
Decadence (originally meaning "decline") is a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, or skill at governing among the members of the elite of a very large social structure, such as an empire or nation state. This is the definition of decadence.
The court in Elsinore is very much a decadent crowd and this will escalate during Inside Hamlet to a degree where everything breaks down and chaos reigns.
You can choose all sorts of ways to be decadent. From not having table manners and stop grooming yourself to fail at your work or grossly neglect your family. Anything that on the surface makes your life easier but in fact are making your life spiral out of control and straight to hell.
Will there be fate play?
Yes.
Fate play means that the game is designed with some things pre-determined for your character. It's up to you how you make that pre-determined thing happen.
The Hamlet story will play out roughly according to the original text and almost everyone will die. Also some characters will have lines from the play they need to perform at a specific time.
What do you mean by What happens at Elsinore stays at Elsinore? How will you enforce this?
What happens at Elsinore stays at Elsinore is meant as one of many ways to make the participants have a space where they will not be judged or ridiculed for their actions.
It is a way to make people feel safe doing extreme play, but also a way of not enforcing a 'hardcore play is better' attitude. An example: We want our participants to know they will not be judged for taking their clothes off, but also not be judged for NOT doing so.
The only way to enforce it is by trusting your participants to do as you ask of them. This is a collaborative event and we put a lot of trust in our participants to co-create with us to fulfil our vision of Inside Hamlet.
Concerning intimate interactions between characters:
Since the participants decide so much of the content, we cannot entirely predict what will happen in the story or how it is played out. All participants are likely to see some burlesque performance and possibly nudity.
Participants are allowed to take physical interactions of a sensual nature - flirting, touching, kissing and so on - as far as they mutually choose. Before the game, we will workshop signal words and gestures to convey that the participant does not want the interaction to escalate even if their characters perhaps would not mind. Participants will never be asked why they have used the signals; the reason could be a whim, a religious conviction, or a partner at home who'd mind, but no-one will ever know. Participants are free to use these signals at any time. And just because it is not used in one interaction does it not mean it will not be used in another interaction, even with the same person.
Just to be entirely clear, at Inside Hamlet you will not be expected to participate in or stick around to view anything that makes you uncomfortable in your real life, whether sexual, violent or any other kind of content. You can never be forced to do anything for reasons inside the fiction, not even if King Claudius demands it.
The baseline in simulating sex is done by theatrical dry humping in your underwear. We expect everybody to make sure the person or persons they interact with are comfortable with the interactions. Please take extra care to use the interaction mechanics in these situations.
We expect all participants to take responsibility for shaping their own experience, and will prepare you for how to make choices about what to act out during the play. To remain in a situation is always your choice. You can resolve this either inside the fiction - for instance by making your character bored by those kinds of situations and leaving - or by choosing to use a signal to gesture that you as a player are uncomfortable, or both. We'll all practice together how this is done, and it will be simple to use.